Bob Kelso

For the Scottish footballer, see Bob Kelso (footballer).

Dr. Robert Kelso
File:Bob Kelso.png
First appearance	"My First Day"
Created by	Bill Lawrence
Portrayed by	Ken Jenkins
In-universe information
Gender	Male
Title	Former Chief of Medicine
Occupation	Part Time Private Practice Physician
Family	Spouse: Enid Kelso Sons: Harrison Kelso, Thong Tri Kelso Nephew: Francis (Pool Cleaner)

Robert "Bob" Kelso, M.D. (most commonly referred to as Bob Kelso, Bobbo or Kelso), is a fictional character played by Ken Jenkins in the American comedy Scrubs.

Profile

Bob Kelso is the chief of medicine for Sacred Heart Hospital for the first seven seasons of scrubs, though he resigns in the episode "My Dumb Luck". He is portrayed as a cruel, heartless man who consistently prizes the hospital's bottom line and his own personal comfort over the patients' well-being. However, his callous demeanour hides a softer, compassionate side.

Throughout the series, he is at odds with Dr. Perry Cox (John C. McGinley), Sacred Heart's Chief Attending Physician who eventually replaces him as Chief of Medicine. Cox calls him "Bobbo" or some other variation, often refers to him as a "pod person" or "the Devil himself", and even punches him out in the episode "My Dream Job"; the two have occasionally shared moments of understanding and compassion, however, such as when Kelso tells a depressed Cox that the hospital needs him.

His wife, Enid, and children are never seen on the show, although he frequently comments on his spouse, describing her as morbidly obese, neurotic, and wheelchair bound due to an accident that left her paralyzed. He has one child by Enid, a son called Harrison, a gay heavy metal fan who wrote a scathing musical about him entitled "Dr. Dad." Kelso also has a secret love child, Trong Tri Kelso, by a Vietnamese woman he had an affair with during his tour in Vietnam. Although he considers the boy's existence an embarrassment, he still pays for his college education. Kelso was born in 1942 in Monroeville, Pennsylvania, where his family, then named Kelsonovich, settled. His father, also a doctor, endeared himself to his poorer patients by accepting gifts such as food and clothing in lieu of actual payment; he was apparently less generous to his own family, however, having left them on Kelso's own bicycle (an event to which Kelso attributes his irrational hatred of bikes). Kelso attended medical school at Stanford University. Kelso was in the United States Navy SEALs during the Vietnam War. In "His Story IV" and "My Déjà Vu, My Déjà Vu", he reveals that he has a tattoo of the word "Johnny" on his buttocks ("...he's an old sailor buddy, and if you went through what we did, you'd understand"). He is revealed in "My Growing Pains" to be 65, which is the hospital's retirement age (in the episode "My Kingdom" the nameplate on Dr. Kelso's portrait shows his birth year as 1947, but this is part of a prank.) The board was actively searching for a replacement, and in "My Dumb Luck" Kelso's forced retirement by the board due to his age is headed off with the help of the staff. He then decides to retire on his own terms, after reminiscing with Boon, a new intern, outside of the hospital. Amidst his ramblings he reveals that he truly does love the hospital and the people who work there. The discussion reveals that the first person he "killed" (a rite of passage for doctors) was a 19-year-old pregnant girl whom he mis-diagnosed.

In his very last scene, he is seen carrying his portrait on his way out of the hospital and he sincerely thanks Ted, the hospital's lawyer and his personal whipping boy, for his hard work. He takes one last look at the hospital and drives off into the sunset.

Despite no longer working at Sacred Heart, Kelso is still a series regular. Now that Kelso is no longer a hospital bureaucrat, he reveals himself actually to be a decent human being; he becomes Dr. Cox's confidant, as Cox can't talk to anyone else about how much he hates his new job. Several characters also note how Kelso now enjoys hanging out at the nearby coffee shop. In "My Comedy Show," a member of staff impersonates Kelso and mocks him for always being in the coffee shop (and also for his confessed love of prostitutes); Kelso looks displeased at first, then laughs along with everyone else, stating "It's funny because it's true."

In "My Finale", Kelso decides to become a part-time doctor again and leave Sacred Heart for good. After stealing his favorite table from Coffeebucks, he gives J.D. a "proper" good-bye and drives off. Several staff members wave good-bye to Kelso from the hospital's windows before he leaves, which J.D. initially mistakes as being for him.

Kelso's compassion

Kelso has a well-hidden compassion for all his patients, his coworkers, and even his employees. He has claimed in the past to be indifferent to the fact that so many people dislike him, but Cox has noted that deep down Kelso doesn't like to be thought of as the most hated person in the hospital. In "My Screw Up", Kelso shows compassion for his wife. When he finds Carla in a supply closet he admits that when his wife is away, the one thing he misses most is the thing he had tried to get rid of (her snoring). "My Scrubs" reveals that Kelso has always known about how patients with no health insurance have been receiving treatment. This is after he keeps quiet to keep the system running and to benefit a friend, Maggie Kent, who has a foot injury. In "My Best Moment", he gives a man without insurance a free stay at the hospital. He finds the man's eight-year old child to be particularly affable and can't bring himself to doom the boy's father to certain death right before Christmas, considering it to be his finest moment in medicine. However, when he gives instructions over the phone to keep the uninsured father in the hospital, the person on the other end is skeptical that it really is Dr. Kelso speaking. In "His Story IV", the admission of Private Brian Dancer, who was wounded in Iraq, sparks political debate with the staff of Sacred Heart, enough that Dancer's health is endangered. In order to unite the hospital once more, Kelso removes the employee discount at the hospital's coffee shop (with the exception of himself), knowing that the only way for the hospital to work together is to have one person they all hate. In "My Jiggly Ball", Kelso chooses to treat a rich patient at the expense of a poor one, with both having identical symptoms. The poor man dies while the rich man lives, and donates enough money to re-open a pre-natal care program which had to be closed due to budget constraints. However, the decision to allow the poor man to die is shown to affect Kelso to the point that he is visibly saddened when he goes home, though he makes sure to hide this fact from the other employees.

Kelso also has little to no compassion for Ted, the hospital's attorney. He often treats him as a servant, and puts him down constantly. This treatment is even to the point where Kelso forces Ted to come all the way to the hospital to make an announcement on his day off. At the end of season 7 however, he retires, thanking Ted for all he's done.

As of season 8, since Kelso no longer has to worry about the hospital, he is revealed to be a decent human being. He becomes Cox's confidant about how much Cox hates his new job, and even starts a sort of friendship with him. He was also the one to encourage J.D. and Elliott to permanently rekindle their relationship. His new attitude seems to change the employees opinions about him, because when he finally leaves the hospital in "My Finale", the employees of the hospital wave goodbye to him from the windows.